


the other side

by rosekings



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, One Shot, also newt would totally read books like jane eyre and pride and prejudice, it's canon, it's pretty sweet tbh, newt and thomas have a heart-to-heart, on a lazy rainy afternoon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-03-27
Packaged: 2019-04-13 18:51:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14118681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosekings/pseuds/rosekings
Summary: “So? What is it?” Newt prompts after a minute.“Nothing.”Newt gently tugs at a strand of Thomas’s hair and lowers his book, his face coming into view. Thomas stares up at him, absently reaching up a hand to push away the hair that’s falling into Newt’s eyes.“It’s never nothing with you.”





	the other side

“I can feel your wheels spinning.”

Thomas opens his eyes when Newt’s words pierce the silence between them. They sit there, heavy, an interruption in Thomas’s sleepy serenity as the rain beats mercilessly against the window.

“What?”

“You’re thinking about something.”

Thomas stares up at the cover of _Jane Eyre._ He and Newt are holed up in Newt and Minho’s dorm room, the latter having left some time ago. Newt is sitting up against the wall on his bed, reading a wrinkled library copy of _Jane Eyre_ by the gray light coming in through the window. Thomas is stretched out on the rest of the bed, his head in Newt’s lap, having peacefully been taking in the rain and the quiet with Newt’s free hand gently carding through his hair for the past few hours. The rain has been relentless, starting the day before and continuing through the night to whatever time it currently is – late afternoon, maybe? Thomas doesn’t really know.

“Maybe,” he concedes.

Newt hums, his hand leaving Thomas’s hair for just a moment to turn the page. “It’s distracting.”

“I’m not saying anything!”

“Exactly. You’re being too quiet.”

Thomas shrugs. Of course he’s thinking about something. He’s thinking about how he loves Newt so much it hurts, and how, in loving him, he has so much to lose. It’s scary, knowing that one false move and it’ll all be over. Hell, next weekend he could get drunk and say something completely over the line and end it all right there. Thomas isn’t stupid – he knows he’s a clumsy person, both physically and verbally. There’s just so much on the line, it’s like he’s walking on eggshells with himself. Not that he’s got a list of horrible things to say – quite the opposite. He could never say anything bad about Newt, could never bring himself to hurt him intentionally. _But when do you ever do things intentionally, Thomas?_ his mind says to him.

“So? What is it?” Newt prompts after a minute.

“Nothing.”

Newt gently tugs at a strand of Thomas’s hair and lowers his book, his face coming into view. Thomas stares up at him, absently reaching up a hand to push away the hair that’s falling into Newt’s eyes. 

“It’s never nothing with you.”

“I just think…” Thomas trails off, not sure on how he intends to finish that sentence. _I just think I’m going to make everything blow up in our faces one day. I just think you’re way too good for me. I just think you deserve someone who isn’t overthinking every single thing. I just think I should stop thinking._

“What?”

Thomas retreats, shaking his head as he sits up. “It’s nothing. Just a class thing I’m stressing about.” He moves around until he’s appropriated all of Newt’s lap, his knees digging into the bed on either side of Newt’s thighs.

“Tommy –“

Thomas shakes his head again and leans forward, softly pressing his lips to Newt’s. Newt makes a soft noise of pleasant surprise, his hand dropping _Jane Eyre_ to the bed and coming up to Thomas’s cheek to loosely hold him in place as they trade slow, languid kisses.

It’s the most relaxing thing Thomas has experienced in weeks. With the rain falling in sheets against the glass and his fingers combing through Newt’s hair, he’s almost entirely distracted from the restless thoughts bouncing off the walls of his mind. Time seems to slow down and it’s just the two of them, Thomas’s blood moving at a leisurely pace through this veins, his heart filled with an overwhelming sense of contentment.

They stay this way for what seems like hours but is probably only a few minutes. Eventually, Newt drags himself away and leans his head back on the wall, his fingers tracing the line of Thomas’s hip under his shirt, and Thomas opens his eyes.

“I love you,” he whispers. Even he can hear the mess of emotions in his voice.

Newt hums in response, watching him carefully.

“Tell me what’s going on,” he says after a minute of staring at each other.

“I told you, it’s just this essay thing –“

“Bullshit.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to stop beating around the bush and tell me why you’re acting so bloody weird.” 

Thomas sighs, dropping his head forward onto Newt’s shoulder. He can feel Newt’s breath brushing across his cheek. “I’m on your side,” Newt mumbles into his ear.

“I know.” _How do I even start to explain this to you? How do I make it sound like I’m not going crazy?_ He shuts his eyes, burying his face into the crook of Newt’s neck as if he can escape his problems. Newt is still dancing his fingers around Thomas’s hip, sending shivers up his spine.

“You deserve someone better than me,” he finally whispers. Newt stills, and Thomas tries to focus on the rain battering against the window instead of the thudding of his heart.

“Like hell I do. If anything, it’s the other way around.”

“You know that’s not true, Newt. You know I never think before I speak. You know I have no impulse control.”

"Hey, look at me." Thomas reluctantly leans back, meeting Newt's concerned stare. Newt rests his free hand on Thomas’s shoulder, his thumb sliding under the collar of his shirt to rub circles into his skin. “So what?”

“What?”

“So what? I know you love me. I know you wouldn’t do anything to purposely hurt me. And you’re not cheating on me, are you?”

Thomas laughs, shaking his head. For a moment he thinks Newt is actually worried about that, but the look in his eyes tells Thomas he isn’t. “No. That isn’t – that’s not even in the ball park, ever, in a million lifetimes.”

“Then I really don’t see what there is to be concerned about. Tommy, I’ve been with you for three years, and I’m still here. It’s going to take a lot more than a forgotten date or a drunken – or sober – argument to chase me off.”

Thomas stares at him, and he knows he means it. He can feel the tension seep out of him, the weight falling off of his shoulders, and his chest deflates in relief. Newt’s eyes soften, and Thomas leans forward to kiss him again by way of a thank you.

The atmosphere around them relaxes and Thomas slides his hands up Newt’s shoulders, draping his arms around Newt’s neck. “I love you,” Newt whispers in the moments they take to breathe. “I love you so much it’s like that’s all that keeps me going sometimes.”

Thomas’s heart seizes up. “What did I ever do to deserve you? How the hell did I get so lucky?”

Newt laughs, tugging him closer even though they’re already as close as possible. Thomas almost feels dizzy now that the pit of worry in his stomach is gone. Raindrops continue to pelt the window, providing a backdrop to their lazy afternoon, and Thomas is almost positive he’s going to explode from how much love he has for the boy in front of him. 

At some point Newt pauses, pulling back just a fraction, and Thomas waits, focusing on the fingers in his hair and the warm skin of Newt’s back under his palm. 

“I’m just getting to the good part of _Jane Eyre,_ ” Newt whispers. Thomas huffs a laugh and opens his eyes. 

“Really? You’re trading me for assigned reading?”

“It’s not even assigned, I’m just really into it.”

Thomas grins, giving him one more kiss, and then he untangles himself from Newt and lays back down on the bed, resting his head back in Newt’s lap. Newt picks up his book from where it fell onto the pillow, his hand coming down to brush through Thomas’s hair again. Thomas shuts his eyes.

Soon Minho will return and the rain will stop and their bubble of peace will burst, but it doesn’t really matter. He and Newt have an endless number of days to experience this, and Thomas has never been more grateful.

 _I’m so lucky,_ he thinks. _So unbelievably lucky._


End file.
